Council nudges ahead with plans for playground in Portrane

Feedback at an informal on-the-ground consultation wasn’t too positive. 

But Fingal County Council is nudging ahead with proposals for a new playground at Longstone Park in Portane, according to the council’s parks chief Kevin Halpenny.

At the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee meeting on 13 November, Social Democrats Councillor Paul Mulville had asked what the status of the plan for a playground in the town was. 

And, when would a formal public consultation start? he asked.

Portrane was one of five locations across the county that came up as short of playgrounds, in an audit carried out by the council at the end of 2023.

“That’s one location that we definitely need to revisit in terms of playground provision,” Halpenny had said, at an area meeting in December that year.

///Progress so far

Mulville brought a motion asking about plans regarding “a much needed play space for Portrane”.

Halpenny’s written response said that staff from the council’s planning and strategic infrastructure department had on 18 October held an informal public consultation in the green space at Longstone Park.

Twelve people came, he said, all of whom lived nearby.

Concerns they voiced included that the playground would attract anti-social behaviour, that there were no children living nearby, that immediate residents were against it, and that there were better places in Portrane.

Fine Gael Councillor Eoghan Dockrell said the feedback didn’t surprise him. “People who oppose something are more likely to show up,” he said. 

"I do appreciate, you know, nearby residents’ concerns about potential noise and anti-social behavior. But I do think, you know, the play areas will enhance the areas nearby.”

While some of the closest residents may not have young children, families would be within a short walk, he said. “Right now, families have to go to Donabate by car or bus for a playground.”

What’s anti-social behaviour?

Sara Olong, who grew up in the area and is now raising two small boys in Donabate, said she was surprised by some of the complaints.

“I don’t think antisocial behaviour is a reason not to put anything in place. It just has to be managed,” she said. 

She does get worried about things like graffiti, she said, but she would have a play destination for the family than not.

Families already use the green space informally, she said, and a few seating areas would improve it.

Playground designer and landscape architect Sophie von Maltzan says fears around “antisocial behaviour” are often vague. “Is it graffiti? Vaping? Fires? Or teenagers simply hanging out?”

Those concerns are common, she says, but removing or delaying play spaces doesn’t solve anything.

“It’s not a solution to not put up playgrounds because they’re being burned,” she said. 

Better design, natural materials, and understanding why vandalism is happening matter more than not building anything, she said. 

James Humphreys, a Labour councillor, said residents and councillors often conflate normal teenage behaviour with antisocial behaviour.

“Kids hanging around isn’t antisocial behaviour. It’s children socialising,” he said. 

Good design can deter genuine antisocial behaviour. He thinks in the new Hazelbury Park that’s being constructed in Dublin 15, he said, where heavy footfall and two paths running through the playground improved safety.

“The best way to stop antisocial behaviour is footfall. People walking through an area,” he said.

Halpenny said, passive surveillance and the type of structures that are built are key to handling that.

When councillors at that meeting had asked him about provision for teenagers, he had said that the play audit wasn’t really about that. 

The audit relates to children’s playgrounds, which are considered to be for those up to 12 years old, he said. Teenager spaces are treated separately, said Halpenny. 

That said, they do consider teenagers in larger neighbourhood parks, where they have space for multiuse game areas and that kind of thing, he said. Teen provision tends to be handled ad-hoc.

Still, Humphreys, the Labour councillor, says that the lack of facilities and spaces to hang out in Portane in particular, and Fingal more broadly, remains a problem.

“The play strategy doesn’t quite crack the noise on teenage spaces, especially indoor ones,” Humphreys said.   He wants to see football, basketball, whatever is popular.

Sara Olong, the parent in Donabate, said she sees the gap every day. 

Her older child prefers climbing and gymnastics to organised sport, she said. “There’s nothing for that awkward age.”

Humphreys says that already, playgrounds aren’t just for kids. “Ireland is one of the loneliest countries in Europe. Playgrounds are where parents meet other parents.” 

Dockrell, the Fine Gael councillor, said that the formal public consultation will give a fuller picture of views on the potential playground at Longstone Park.

In his written response to Mulville, the Social Democrats councillor, Halpenny, the council’s parks chief, said that: “The proposed location has been identified as the most appropriate from the limited number of open spaces available.” 

“The playspaces have been designed in such a way as to be at least 25 metres from the nearest residence and both locations are relatively flat with good drainage,” he wrote.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.